The Warsaw Barbican (Polish : barbakan warszawski) is a barbican (semicircular fortified outpost) in Warsaw, Poland, and one of few remaining relics of the complex network of historic fortifications that once encircled Warsaw. Located between the Old and New Towns, it is a major tourist attraction.
The barbican was erected in 1540 in place of an older gate to protect Nowomiejska Street. It was designed by Jan Baptist the Venetian, an Italian Renaissance architect who lived and worked in the Mazowsze region of 16th century Poland and was instrumental in the redesign of the 14th-century city walls, which by that time had fallen into disrepair. The barbican had the form of a three-level semicircular bastion manned by fusiliers. It was 14 meters wide and 15 meters high from the bottom of the moat, which surrounded the city walls, and extended 30 meters from the external walls.
Almost immediately after its inception, the 4-tower barbican became an anachronism serving virtually no practical purpose. This was largely a result of the rapid advancement in artillery power. It was used in the defense of the city only once, during the Swedish invasion of Poland, on 30 June 1656, when it had to be recaptured by the Polish army of Polish king John II Casimir from the Swedes.
In the 18th century, the barbican was partially dismantled as its defensive value was negligible, and the city benefited more from a larger gate which facilitated movement of people and goods in and out of the city. In the 19th century, its remains were incorporated into newly built apartment buildings ( kamienica ). During the interwar period, in 1937–1938, Jan Zachwatowicz reconstructed part of the walls and the western part of the bridge, demolishing one of the newer buildings in the reconstruction process. However, a lack of funds delayed the barbican's planned complete reconstruction, and the 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany put the plans on hold.
During World War II, particularly the Siege of Warsaw (1939) and the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, the barbican was largely destroyed, as were most of the Old Town's buildings. It was rebuilt after the war, during 1952–1954, on the basis of 17th-century etchings, as the new government decided it would be cheaper to rebuild the barbican and the nearby city walls as a tourist attraction than to rebuild the tenements. In its reconstruction, bricks were used from historic buildings demolished in the cities of Nysa and Wrocław; most of the barbican was rebuilt, save for two exterior gates and the oldest tower on the side of the Old Town. It is currently a popular tourist attraction.
52°15′2″N21°0′36″E / 52.25056°N 21.01000°E
The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a state museum and a national historical monument, which formerly served as the official royal residence of several Polish monarchs. The personal offices of the king and the administrative offices of the royal court were located in the Castle from the 16th century until the final partition of Poland in 1795. Situated in the Castle Square, at the entrance to the Old Town, the Royal Castle holds a significant collection of Polish and European art.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a monument in Warsaw, Poland, dedicated to the unknown soldiers who have given their lives for Poland. It is one of many such national tombs of unknowns that were erected after World War I, and the most important such monument in Poland.
Nowy Świat, known in English as New World Street, is one of the main historic thoroughfares of Warsaw, Poland. It comprises part of the Royal Route that extends from Warsaw's Royal Castle and Old Town, south to King John III Sobieski's 17th-century royal residence at Wilanów.
Szydłów is a fortified town in Staszów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Szydłów. It lies approximately 13 kilometres (8 mi) west of Staszów and 43 km (27 mi) south-east of the regional capital Kielce.
Kraków Old Town is the historic central district of Kraków, Poland. It is one of the most famous old districts in Poland today and was the centre of Poland's political life from 1038 until King Sigismund III Vasa relocated his court to Warsaw in 1596.
The Kraków Barbican is a barbican – a fortified outpost once connected to the city walls. It is a historic gateway leading into the Old Town of Kraków, Poland. The barbican is one of the few remaining relics of the complex network of fortifications and defensive barriers that once encircled the royal city of Kraków in the south of Poland. It currently serves as a tourist attraction and venue for a variety of exhibitions.
Warsaw Old Town, also known as Old Town, and historically known as Old Warsaw, is a neighbourhood, and an area of the City Information System, in the city of Warsaw, Poland, located within the district of Śródmieście. It is the oldest portion of the city, and contains numerous historic buildings, mostly from 17th and 18th centuries, such as the Royal Castle, city walls, St. John's Cathedral, and the Barbican, the Old Town Market Square and the Warsaw Mermaid Statue. The settlement itself dates back to between the 13th and 14th centuries, and was granted town privileges c. 1300.
The Gothic architecture arrived in Poland in the first half of the 13th century with the arrival of the Dominican and Franciscan orders. The first elements of the new style are evident in the foundation of the Dominican Trinity church in Kraków (1226–1250), built by Bishop Iwo Odrowąż. Rebuilding of the Wrocław Cathedral, started in 1244, was another early manifestation of the Gothic style. The earliest building in Poland built entirely in the Gothic style is the chapel of St. Hedwig in Trzebnica (1268–1269), on the grounds of a Cistercian monastery.
The Saxon Garden is a 15.5–hectare public garden in central (Śródmieście) Warsaw, Poland, facing Piłsudski Square. It is the oldest public park in the city. Founded in the late 17th century, it was opened to the public in 1727 as one of the first publicly accessible parks in the world.
Warsaw's Old Town Market Place is the center and oldest part of the Old Town of Warsaw, Poland. Immediately after the Warsaw Uprising, it was systematically blown up by the German Army. After World War II, the Old Town Market Place was restored to its prewar appearance.
Stara Prochownia also known as the Bridge Gate is a historic building in Warsaw New Town. It is located on ulica Boleść, just below the New Town and the Warsaw Barbican, on the Vistula River escarpment.
The Royal Castle in Poznań dates from 1249 and the reign of Przemysł I. Located in the Polish city of Poznań, it was largely destroyed during the Second World War but has since been partly rebuilt.
The Historical Museum of the City of Kraków in Kraków, Lesser Poland, was granted the status of an independent institution in 1945. Originally, it was a branch of the Old Records Office of Kraków, in operation from 1899.
St. Florian's Gate or Florian Gate in Kraków, Poland, is one of the best-known Polish Gothic towers, and a focal point of Kraków's Old Town. It was built about the 14th century as a rectangular Gothic tower of "wild stone", part of the city fortifications against Tatar attack.
The Royal Castle in Warsaw was a seat of the Sejm and Senate of the first Rzeczpospolita and also an official residence of the monarchs in Warsaw. It contained the offices of a number of political institutions, arranged around a central courtyard.
Reconstruction in architectural conservation is the returning of a place to a known earlier state by the introduction of new materials. It is related to the architectural concepts of restoration and preservation, wherein the most extensive form of reconstruction is creating a replica of a destroyed building.
Ostrów Tumski is an island between two branches of the river Warta in the city of Poznań in western Poland. Poznań Cathedral and other ecclesiastical buildings occupy the central part of the island. Ostrów Tumski is part of the city's former Nowe Miasto district, although it is actually the oldest part of the city, where the rulers of the early Polish state in the 10th century had one of their palaces.
New Town Market Place is the main square of the New Town of Warsaw, Poland.
Grzybów Square is a triangular square in the Śródmieście (downtown) district of Warsaw, Poland, between Twarda, Bagno, Grzybowska and Królewska Streets.
The city walls of Warsaw are walls around Warsaw Old Town. They are composed of two lines: inner and outer, with several gates round the city. Originally raised between the 13th and 16th centuries, then rebuilt in 1950–1963, partly later. The best-preserved fragments of the fortification are those parallel to Podwale street, from the Warsaw Royal Castle to the Barbican and further to the Vistula Embankment.
